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Chicago woke up Thursday looking more like a city wrapped in fog than one basking in the middle of a July heat wave. But that hazy curtain hanging over the skyline isn't mist—it's wildfire smoke from Canada and it's pushing air quality across the region into levels that health officials say everyone should take seriously.
By this morning, Chicago's Air Quality Index (AQI) had climbed into the "unhealthy" category, with readings around 180 in parts of the city. Communities farther north saw even worse conditions: Waukegan has reached "very unhealthy" levels, while parts of northwest Indiana briefly entered the AQI's highest "hazardous" category. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has issued an Air Pollution Action Day for much of northern Illinois and the National Weather Service has placed nearly the entire Chicago area under an Air Quality Alert through this evening.
The smoke is arriving from hundreds of active wildfires burning across Canada, continuing a pattern that's become all too familiar over the last several summers. Thick plumes drifted into the Midwest overnight, leaving downtown smelling faintly of a campfire and obscuring views of the skyline from the lakefront.
The timing also couldn't be much worse. Chicago is also in the middle of another stretch of 90-degree temperatures, and heat can worsen ground-level ozone formation, adding another layer of pollution to an already smoky atmosphere. Together, wildfire smoke and ozone make a difficult combination for anyone spending time outside.
Health experts say the tiny particles carried in wildfire smoke can travel deep into the lungs and affect far more than people with asthma. Young children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with heart or lung disease remain at the highest risk, but officials say even healthy adults may notice irritated eyes, coughing, sore throats or shortness of breath after extended time outdoors.
The Chicago Park District moved some summer programming indoors and canceled others altogether because of the conditions, while organizers were also monitoring whether the Chicago Fire match at Soldier Field could be affected.
If you have to be outside, experts recommend wearing a well-fitting N95 mask, limiting strenuous activity and taking frequent breaks indoors. At home, keep windows closed and run an air conditioner or air purifier if possible to reduce smoke indoors.
The good news? Relief appears to be on the horizon. Forecasters expect winds, showers and thunderstorms to begin clearing the smoke by Friday afternoon, with much cleaner air arriving by Friday night and into the weekend. Until then, that hazy Chicago skyline is a reminder that wildfire season is no longer just a problem for places where the fires are burning.